


Winged Wisps

by GachMoBrea



Series: Winged [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (very minor), AU, AU - Wings (Freeform), Alternate Universe - Freeform - Wings, Boss!Len, Brother & Sister Caring, Gen, Gifts, I think my tags are bad, Len and Barry are the same age, Lewis is still a jerk, Made-Up name for Mrs. Snart, Mrs. Snart still runs away, Mysticism?, OOC, Possibly Confusing Chapters, SPOILER ALERT!, Snart Sibling Love!, Spoiler Tags!, Thief!Len, Varying/Changing POV, Wings, Wisps, minor canon compliance, protective!Mick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:32:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wrote this while I was sleep-deprived...(I never did get my nap.)</p><p>In a world where I put Wings on people, but don't call them "Fairies"- There is still a Captain Cold and The Flash.</p><p>AU-Freeform-Wings</p><p>(Nora Allen LIVES! No "superpowers" per se, but there are "Gifts")</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT NOTE!!!  
> Each Chapter skips ahead. The first few Chapters skip a few years, then the later ones just skip a day. (Or days.)  
> You guys are smart. I know you'll figure it out. :}

Nora and Henry Allen, two nature Wisps, waited with bated breathe to see their newborn son's back.  
When the healing Wisp nurse returns with the child, she promptly turns him so that the parents can see.  
There are vibrant red swirls on the baby boy's back; intricate and without a clear 'wing shape' like any other newborn Wisp.  
"Oh, Henry," Nora whispers, taking her son in her arms and wrapping the blanket around the shivering child as she looks down at his sleeping face. "He's perfect."  
"With red like that he could be any type of elemental Wisp," Henry chuckles, brushing the back of his fingers again his son's cheek. "Our little boy."  
"Our perfect little boy," Nora nods, tears spilling over her face when their son smiles in his sleep. "Bartholomew."

 

Time didn't bring favor to the word "fairy". People grew angry at the term, having heard it abused by those less gifted than others and dragged through the streets in novels. So, collectively, the people began to call themselves "Wisps" and it stuck faster than a gorshberry.  
Wisps were born with designs on their backs varying in size, color, and design. Most newborns had an outline of what their wings would look like. Colors hinted at what type of Gift the Wisp would develop during puberty. Whether it would be weather related, plant, earth, healing, water, etc.  
There were types upon types and sub-types to that, so most people just spoke up what they did rather than try to 'classify' themselves.

 

Nora Allen could manipulate water to such an extent, that she could move a rain cloud away from the sun.  
Henry Allen could create and control lightning. "Not electricity!" he would correct automatically. He could create the bolts, make them dance to his heart's content, then drive them into the ground to end their bright flight. But, he could not hold onto a metal pole and send the lightning into it. He did, on occasion, send the bolts directly to the "lightning absorbers" at the power plant in order to get a discount on their energy bill.  
Barry could have either of their Gifts or a mixture of both. When children inherited two different Gifts, they tended to be parlor tricks compared to their parents.  
Or, the boy could develop something entirely different. There were ways of guessing, but never a way of knowing.

\---

When Leonard Snart was born, there were no markings on his back.  
At all.  
Livia Snart had screamed in fear, ordering the nurse to take the baby immediately to a doctor to check him out. Lewis Snart cursed at the nurse's back as she ran.  
The doctor brought the baby boy back to the Snart parents with a pained smile.  
"He has something," he tells them, turning the child around to show the couple. "They're just white and hard to see."  
"But winter Wisps are born with silver," Livia frowns, touching at the almost too-faint to notice swirls. There were only two and they were very small. "There's barely anything there at all."  
"This could be a sign of a late bloomer," the doctor turns the baby boy around to offer him to the parents. Mrs. Snart takes her son as if he would break in her arms. "Or maybe he will have very weak Gifts. Or a new Gift we have yet to see."  
"My boy will grow up to be greater than any other Wisp he meets," Lewis growls at the baby. "I'll teach him how to be tough in this world. That'll snap the late bloomer out of him in no time."  
"He is just a baby," the doctor warns him seriously. "Take care not to push your son too hard too soon. It could have the opposite affect."  
When the doctor leaves, Lewis grabs his wife's shoulder in a tight pinch. "We'll teach Leo how to be a man. Don't you worry, Livvy."  
"Of-of course, Lewis," his wife sinks down into the bed cushion and gets out from under her husband's hold. "I'm sure it's just because he came early. That's all. You'll see."  
Lewis curses, dropping himself into his seat to glare at his less-than-perfect son.

-


	2. Chapter 2

"Iris was born with purple designs," Joe laughs, arm the back of his wife's chair in the Allen house where they were visiting their friends. "I have NO idea what that means. Francie manipulates light and I shoot arrows."  
"You have keen sight," his wife corrects. "The police department overruled the use of bows and arrows with bell bottom police pants."  
"I'm not even elemental," Joe laughs again. "I don't know what our baby girl is going to have."  
"Well, Barry is red so we're just hoping he doesn't develop the Gift of fire," Nora smiles, offering the other couple a plate of cookies. They each take two. "I heard about a young boy who came into his fire Gift so fast he nearly burnt his grandfather's entire farm to the ground."  
"That's probably just newspaper hype," Henry shakes his head, biting off half a cookie in one go. "You know how they exaggerate."  
"Henry!" his wife scolds him. "Manners."  
"Now, now," Francine shakes her head. "We're friends. No need to stand on ceremony for us."  
"Does that mean I can take a nap on your couch?" Joe asks, glancing over to their furniture. "Because I had to pull a double shift last night and I'm barely staying awake."  
"Joe!" his wife scolds him. "Manners."  
All four adults look at each other, then break into quiet laughter.

\---

Wisps came into their wings in stages. When the first pair was about to grow out (usually near the ages of 3-6) most children noticed a 'tingling' sensation. The first pair were usually small and delicate like their newborn selves had been. Then they molted into their second pair (near the ages of 8-10), also named 'training wings' which they had until they passed puberty (near the ages of 12-15) where they would grow into their fully developed wings in the following three years, along with their Gift(s). 

 

"I don't like how Dad treats us differently," Lisa Snart pouts from the window as she watches her father drive away in his truck. "He's always shouting at you, Lenny. Why does he always have to shout?"  
"Because," Len growls, picking up the broken pieces of his model airplane. "I'm a late bloomer and you're perfect, Lisa."  
"No I'm not!" his sister turns to him, green wings fluttering in her frustration. Even though she was two years younger than Len, her wings and his small stature made it look like he was the younger sibling. "I talk too much and I take apples from Mr. Grenoy's tree every time I pass it."  
"I like that fact that you're perfect, Lis," Len smiles at her, putting the pieces in his desk drawer and closing it before turning to her. "You grew your training wings a whole year early! That's amazing! No one in our entire school has done that."  
"So just because my flimsy flighters flew out early and yours haven't even started to grow yet, Dad gets to be all crotchety and mean?" his six year old sister stomps her foot. "I don't like it!"  
"Me neither," eight year-old Len sighs, touching his back that hadn't even tingled yet. "But I can't change who I am and we can't change how Dad acts, so it's better to make the most of life when we can."  
"What do you mean?" Lisa frowns in curiosity.  
Her older brother grins, "Dad didn't make us dinner so we can eat whatever we want."  
"Ice cream?" his sister gasps, "And cookies?"  
"Ice cream and cookies," Len nods. "All we can eat."

-


	3. Chapter 3

"MOM! DAD!" Barry shouted, flying into the house through the open back door. "I think I know what my Gift is!"  
"What?" Nora ran to her son, the task of peeling potatoes abandoned in the sink. "But you're only eleven! You can't possibly be hitting puberty already?"  
"But Mom, I beat Iris home!" he grins at his mother, feel still lifted off the floor without him even thinking about having to beat his wings.  
"Honey," his mother offers him a fond smile. "That just means your fast. Not that speed is your Gift."  
"But Mom," Barry smiles as his father finally makes it to the kitchen. "I ran back and forth from her house three times."  
Nora Allen holds her hands to her face as Henry Allen starts to laugh.  
"That's my boy!" the father barks out.

\---

Len was 10 when he got his first pair of wings. Lisa was overjoyed while their father scowled and threw a bear bottle at him. It broke the left wing in half.  
Livia Snart had run away two years before.

At age 14, Len's wings had repaired themselves into two solid circles of white that didn't even reach beyond his shoulder blades and could barely push paper across the table. They could never hold a young man's weight, let alone an adult's.  
The teen resorted to wearing a coat every day to school. Even on the hot days. It hid his small wings and kept them protected. The students made fun him for it, calling him 'Captain Cold' since he had to have an icy interior to be able to stand the heat with a coat on.  
Lisa got into more fights over it than her older brother did.  
Len made it all the way to High School before he dropped out.  
But he didn't tell his father that. He took the bus with his sister to school, waved to her until she got safely through the doors, then turned away and walked off to do something else.

-


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short Chapter, this. Sorry about that!

In High School, Barry was given the nickname "The Flash" because his speed in all things sports related. Even when he wasn't using his wings, he seemed faster than any other Wisp he came across.  
In the three years following his early puberty, he only got faster.

He graduated with honors and moved on to College to study Criminal Science.

\---

Lewis drove off one day, after another one-sided shouting match with his kids, and didn't come back. It actually made life easier for the two siblings, and they found ways to support themselves while pretending to be under the care of 'an adult'.  
Len discovered his "Gift" while trying to come up with the money to put Lisa through College. He was very good at slight-of-hand and charming people so much they forgot that already paid the tip to the waiter or other such nonsense.  
His wings never grew any bigger or stronger. But what he lacked in flight, he made up for in cunning.

-


	5. Chapter 5

Barry's first case as a CSI was an unsolvable robbery. A rare, green gem was taken from the museum but there is nothing there to examine; no video surveillance, no finger prints, nothing to show that anything was wrong. Except for the lack of a shiny green gem.  
"It's so frustrating!" the twenty-two year old bemoans to his parents that night. "Even Uncle Joe was angry that we had nothing to go on to find whoever stole that gem."  
"You'll find him in due time," his mother pats his hand gently. "The police always find their man, or woman. It just takes time."  
Her son blows out a breath, "I just wanted to impress my bosses on the first day. Now I'm 0-1 on cases and I haven't even unpacked my degree yet."  
"You better not unpack here," his father tells him with a pointed fork. "I don't want you zipping in and out of our house and bringing home the girlfriends-"  
"Dad!"  
"Henry!"  
"What?" the man scoffs. "He's going to have a social life, Nora. I want him to have an apartment of his own too."  
"At least wait until our son has gotten a few pay checks under his belt before you toss him to the curb," his wife scolds him sternly. "Honestly, Henry. You'd think we had raised a ruffian."

\---

"Get off me, you ruffian!" a tattooed Wisp with a broken wing roared at a larger man who was holding him from behind. The fire Wisp pulled his victim tighter to his chest with a grin.  
"You are two days late with your payment," says a cool voice from the shadows. "One day, easily forgiven, but a second day without an excuse?"   
The voice tisks, "Unforgivable."  
"Please," the tattoo Wisp begs, still struggling uselessly against the human mass of muscle holding him. "I'll get the money. Tomorrow! All of it and a hundred more, I swear!"  
"Make it three hundred, for the three days lost," the voice orders as a pipe breaks out of the shadows to point at the tattoo Wisp. "Or else I'll just come back with less of an even temper."  
"I will! I swear it!" the Wisp turns to the man behind him as much as he can.   
The muscle growls unhappily but lets go. As he walks towards his boss and into the further reaches of the shadow, the tattoo Wisp feverishly calls out, "Thank you, Captain Cold!"

 

"Are you getting soft on me, Snart?" Mick asks once he has his boss in the car and they're driving away. "I could've broken his wing the other way, then clear off."  
"Lisa's coming home today for Spring Break," Len answers with a smirk. "I want the streets to be less bloody when she arrives and I still want that money so that she can buy that dress she couldn't stop talking about."  
His partner grunts a laugh, "You spoil her."  
"What are big brothers for?" he returns, nonchalantly.

 

Len had met Mick in the early years of his 'professional' thieving days.   
The, then amateur, thief hadn't gotten the right blueprints and set off a silent alarm in the jewelry shop he was taking advantage of. The fire Wisp just so happened to be playing with his Gift in a nearby alley and offered a flame-throwing hand to give the Captain cover for escape.  
They formed a partnership that day and have been working together ever since.  
Robbing whatever and whoever they wanted. And running a small loan shark business on the side.

-


	6. Chapter 6

Barry was CONVINCED that a string of robberies, with no outward appearance of being related, were connected to THE same thief who stole the gem of his first case.  
He just wished the man would make a mistake already. So that he could nab him and prove to his co-workers that he wasn't crazy.  
The speed Wisp's red wings vibrated with pent up frustration. Even his Uncle Joe didn't believe him. Maybe because he wasn't really his uncle? No, that's not it. His own father didn't believe him either. His mother didn't say anything either way but that was almost worse.  
The young CSI kept a wall of his lab dedicated to the 'No Strings Attached' cases. That's what the media was beginning to call it anyways. Since there was nothing connecting anyone to the crime.  
NO strings of evidence to lead him to the perpetrator.  
"I'll get you," Barry frowns, poking at the large "?" in the middle of the wall. "You're bound to make a mistake some time."

\---

"Lenny," Lisa huffs, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Where on earth did you get so much money? I doubt they pay this much to work at a hotel."  
That was the first lie he ever told his sister. Way back when she was acting too worried to leave for college.  
'I'm going to start working at a hotel,' he had told her, letting her think that he'd strayed away from his 'criminal' antics and become a normal Wisp of society.  
"I'm management," he drawls, opening the door for her so that she could carry her luggage into the apartment. "We get the bigger tips."  
"But this?" his sister gawks, taking in the high ceilings and shiny silver accents in the appliances and art pieces. "You've gotta be an owner or something to get enough money for this place."  
"It's not a penthouse, Lis," Len rolls his eyes at her, closing and locking the door behind them. "This is an experimental project apartment complex. I actually get to stay here for free as long as I give my patron the star of approval once the year's out."  
"But, Lenny," Lisa has moved to the large window looking down on Central City. "It's so beautiful up here."  
Her green wings flutter in excitement as she watches a flock of birds fly passed the glass as if she were a star in a movie.  
"Since I can't soar amongst the heavens," Len smirks at his sister's worried frown. "I might as well live amid them."  
"What pastel colored book did you get that load of garbage from," she huffs, stalking over to the kitchen to inspect it for food.  
That was Len's favorite part about his sister. She didn't fly around him. She would flutter or move her wings in any fashion according to her mood, but that was instinctual and nearly impossible to stop, but otherwise she walked and ran with him like her wings weren't there at all.  
She didn't judge him and he loved her for it.

"Cookie dough!" Lisa cheers, her body halfway enveloped by the fridge. "Oh, Lenny, you DID remember!"  
"Don't forget the ice cream," Len drawls, walking over to the kitchen where his sister was still rumaging for food. "It isn't dinner without the ice cream."

\---

"Barry!" Iris pushes her friend's elbow off the table in order to get his attention.  
The young CSI catches himself with his wings and hovers over the ground, staring at the other Wisp with big eyes, "What'd you do that for?"  
"I've been pouring my heart out over my crush here for the past hour and I just now noticed that you weren't even paying attention!" her purple wings 'flare' out in challenge for the other to deny the claim.  
Barry blushes almost as red as his own wings, "Sorry, Iris. I'm just thinking."  
"About another girl?" she teases, wings returning to their relaxed state without effort. "That's terribly rude since you're with a girl right now."  
"No! No, no, no, at least-" he scratches the top of his head. "Could it be a girl?"  
"Could what be a girl?" Iris inwardly sighs, hoping that at least some part of their time together would be spent 'together'.  
"Sorry, wait, let me start over," Barry returns to his seat, clears his throat. "There are these thefts that have been going on for the past six-ish years. I think they're related, as in they're done by the same person, but there's nothing to lead me to who that person is. Nothing! As in no traceable anything to go about even guessing who it could be."  
"Well," his friend leans back in her seat a bit to think. "Have you tried looking at what KIND of things were stolen? Like, narrowing down the possibilities of what could be your thief's next target? Is he or she still stealing?"  
"Iris," Barry's eyes go bigger than before. "You're a genius!"  
"I just do parlor tricks and notice things," she shrugs, snapping her fingers to make a spark. She had gotten some of her fathers keen sight, but instead of her mother's light manipulation, she could make her own short 'sparking' bursts.  
"I've got to get back to my lab, are you okay to get home safe?" he's already out of his seat again and halfway to the sky to start his flight there.  
"I doubt you'd be able to NOT explode with excitement if I said no," Iris laughs even though she feels a little angry at getting left early for some crook. "You better give me all of the details when you catch whoever!"  
"Absolutely!" Barry's voice trails off, his wings beating as fast as he can make them in his hurry to get back to the station.

Iris sighs after he's gone, "But what do I do about Eddie?"

-


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't let all the "---" confuse you! It just means the story is changing Point Of View. ;-)

"So," Lisa draws the word out the next day at breakfast. "When do I get to meet your boyfriend?"  
"He's not my boyfriend," Len sighs, knowing his sister already knew that fact after he had told her continuously. 2,456 times, to be exact.  
"But he keeps popping up in our conversations," she smiles at him, leaning a little closer from her spot at his side. They were eating at the counter in the kitchen that opened into the living room, both of them sitting on cushioned stools.  
Len puts down his fork and levels his sister with a glare, "You told me to make friends."  
"FRIENDS," she repeats the word, completely immune to his glare. "As in plural. Mick is only one. Unless you have a whole slew of friends all named Mick?"  
"How many friends do you have, Lisa?" he counters. Mind alert for the information so he could do a thorough background check on the names later.  
"Huh," his sister tilts her head to think. "Four good ones: Juicy, Wallster, Sassy, Laurz." She tilts her head the other way, "Then a bunch of friendship freeloaders."  
"Do Juicy, Wallster, Sassy and Laurz have last names?" Len narrows his eyes at her. There's no way those are their real names. They're probably either nicknames or some sort of sappy shortening.  
"Na-uh!" Lisa waves a finger in his face. "You are NOT getting their names so that you can threaten their lives with used bars of hotel soap."  
"Lisa," he starts to reason with her but she gives him her own take on a glare.  
Her glares actually work on him. Len frowns, turning his attention to his coffee cup instead. At least caffeine hadn't betrayed him yet.  
"So," Lisa says the word simply. "When do I get to meet your boyfriend?"  
"He's not my boyfriend." 2,457. 

\---

"Aha!" Barry stabs his wall with a triumphant shout, accidentally shoving it through the weak plaster covering the damage of a terrible experiment gone wrong. "Oops."  
He pulls out his finger and wipes the white off on his pants, then tapes a random piece of paper over the hole.  
Once the cover up is finished, his smile returns full force.  
Barry holds a, current, mangled newspaper in one hand and several clippings in another.  
"You only go for the things that'll give you the most bang for your buck," the brunette smirks. "Which means," he opens the current paper again to stare at the picture taking up the entire middle section. "You'll want to go for the crown jewels before they're sent back to England."

The young CSI carefully places the newspaper pieces back on the wall and heads for the door. In the back of his mind, he realizes he's worked through the night. The part of his brain that was propelling his legs down the stairs didn't care.  
He had a crook to catch.

\---

"Ugh! Lenny," Lisa complains as she grabs her brother's arm. "Why on earth are we at a boring museum?"  
'Because I'm going to rob it when you go back to college.' Len smirks. "I thought you liked fine art?"  
"I like fine dining and..." her voice trails off as her eyes stare at a brunette leading a tour. "On second thought, this was a great idea. How 'bout a tour?"  
Before Len can response, his sister is already off to introduce herself to the tour guide and flirt effortlessly.  
Len sighs, more in relief than in his sister's antics. He knew the tour guide from an earlier casing of the building. He was some intellect Wisp named Cisco.  
Something red catches his eyes and Len turns to another brunette Wisp trying to hide in the shadows of the museum as he practically glares at everyone in the building.  
'Interesting...' he walks over to the Wisp in such a way that he won't see him until it's too late.

"Looking for someone?" Len asks him, making the other Wisp jump and fly a few feet away.  
"You-I-Where did you come from?" the red-winged Wisp asks him in a hurry.  
"Well," Len grins. "When a mommy Wisp and a daddy Wisp love each other very much-"  
"No! No, not that," the other Wisp blushes as red as his wings as he rushes back to Len. "I mean, how did you sneak up on me?"  
"Oh, well, I just walked over," he shrugs. "I didn't realize you were hiding from someone. Should I leave?"  
"No, I mean, you don't have to," the Wisp shakes his head, then offers his hand. "Hi. I'm Barry."  
"Len," he smirks. "Why are you hiding out in a museum, Barry?"  
The Wisp looks around, probably to see if anyone 'else' had snuck up on him.  
"I'm looking for a thief," Barry whispers. "I think he's someone in the crowd."  
"Oh?" that perks Len's interest. 'Has someone finally figured me out?'  
"Yeah," the Wisp turns his attention back to the crowd. "I've been tracking down the 'No Strings Attached' theif who's been stealing things from all over Central City for quite a while now."  
"I've read about her," Len throws out the pronoun to gauge the other's reaction. "Are there really no clues at all?"  
Barry frowns, "No. Which is frustrating."  
'He probably doesn't even know what gender yet.' Len decides to give him a second chance to pick out his pronoun, "Are you sure she doesn't have in inside man or woman?"  
"I'm not really sure of much," Barry sighs, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "I just know that the thefts are connected and that whoever's doing it is very smart."  
'Thank you.' Len fakes a concerned frown, "Are you the lead detective on the case then? Aren't you a little young for that?"  
"I'm twenty-two," the Wisp tells him proudly. "And no. I'm just the CSI."  
"Just?" Len smirks. They're the same age. "You're personally chasing down leads to get to the bottom of your case." He winks at the other Wisp. "I think that calls for more than a 'just', don't you?"  
"Maybe, but," Barry turns his full focus on Len again. "What do you do? Your job, I mean."  
"I'm in between jobs at the moment," Len leans in a little to whisper loudly. "but don't tell my sister. She still thinks I work for a hotel."  
"You have a sister?" the other Wisp smiles brightly at him. "That's wonderful! I'm an only child. I often thought how life could be if I had a little brother or sister. Or," he blushes a little. "Are you the little brother?"  
"Nope, I'm the big kind," Len chuckles. "If you ask me, having younger siblings is more work than it is play."  
"Really?" Barry frowns. "That sounds like a sour way of thinking about it."  
"But," he sighs, easily finding his sister's wings flittering excitedly near the tour guide. "It's worth it."

They watch the crowd in silence for a few minutes before Barry shuffles his feet nervously.  
Len smirks, "What is it, Barry?"  
"I-Well, I was just wondering," the Wisp swallows. "Where are your wings?"  
"What do you mean?" Len lifts an eyebrow at him. "Can't you see them?"  
"No, well, no?" Barry squints his eyes where the wings should be. "Are they invisible? Is that your Gift?"  
Len chuckles again, "No."  
"So then," Barry is still confused. "where are they?"  
"Nowhere," he shrugs. "Birth defect."  
He hated this next part.  
"I'm sorry to hear that."  
The fake sympathy and loss for words from people. And the pity. Especially the pity.  
"You learn to adapt." Or die trying.  
"They can get in the way."  
Len turns more of his focus to the other Wisp, "Pardon?"  
"Wings," Barry spreads them out with his arms. They reach far beyond his limbs, with bright red, intricate symbols running throughout them as if they were carefully sewn there. "They're great for getting around, but they can get in the way."  
The sympathy and pity are gone. The other Wisp has returned to normal conversation as if it were natural to meet people without wings.  
"I suppose they're a hassle to sleep with too," Len offers, slightly stunned at this first time reaction.  
"Oh, yeah," Barry laughs. "When I got my first pair, I was so afraid of breaking them I slept on my stomach with a colossal amount of pillows on the floor in case I fell off. It was awful."  
"Glad I avoided that then," Len feels himself smiling like he does around Lisa. That's a first too.  
Speaking of his sister, he sees her slipping a paper into the tour guide's back pocket and sashaying away from him.  
"Time for me to go," he sighs, actually feeling sad about having to leave the other Wisp. "Maybe we'll run into each other another time?"  
"I hope so," Barry smiles at him. "It's been nice talking to you, Len."  
"You too, Barry," Len smiles back, offering him a wave before he goes to meet up with his sister again. He repeats to himself, "You too."

As Len eats his lunch with Lisa in a café, his little sister chattering on about her newest boy obsession, he decides to give Barry the CSI the thief he was looking for.  
At least, he smirks to himself, a version of him.

\---

Barry takes note of a few possible suspects, but no one really stands out to him.  
He returns home completely exhausted and falls asleep before he remembers making it to his bed.

\---

Len and Mick meet the tattoo Wisp in the same place they met him last.  
"I-I'll get-get you the mo-money, on-honest," the Wisp stutters in front of them, on his knees and literally begging. "Please don't break my wings any more!"  
"I've decided I don't want the money anymore," Len tells him in his 'criminal' voice. The tattoo Wisp flinches where he kneels. "I'm not going to kill you either."  
"Then-then what?" his customer looks worriedly up to Mick who's blocking Len from the Wisp's sight.  
"I've got a job for you to do," Len tells him calmly, slowly, so that the man understands. "And when it's done, your debt will be paid in full."  
"But if you're caught," he adds and Mick cracks his knuckles. "You better confess to all charges." Len grins as he adds, "There are Wisps in prison who owe me money. They wouldn't bat an eye killing you to repay their debts."  
He hears the Wisp swallow and nearly choke, "I'll do it."  
Len grins a little wider.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Extra points to you if you can guess who Lisa's four friends are. {Their real names, I mean.}


	8. Chapter 8

Barry wakes on a hard wood floor to the sound of a vacuum cleaner running. He wipes at his face as he looks around to get his bearings.  
He's in his room at his parent's house. At least he made it that far.  
He looks at his watch and sighs.  
He's late for work again.  
Something crinkles in his pocket as he moves to stand. He pulls out the piece of paper as he turns to sit and re-reads the newspaper article he ripped out.  
"Just because you didn't come last night," Barry gets to his feet. "Doesn't mean you won't come tonight or the night after."  
He grabs a clean set of clothes and heads for the shower.  
He still has a crook to catch.

 

That night, as Barry hides out in the back of the museum, drinking coffee to stay warm and alert, there's a noise and he tenses.  
The noise happens again and the back door creaks open.  
Barry swiftly runs to the door to check if it's a guard. There's no one there.  
But the door is open.  
Barry slips through the door he KNOWS was locked earlier and heads straight for the exhibit his thief should be interested in.  
There's a figure hunched over the glass, some sort of metal object in his hand as he looks the thing over.  
"Freeze!" Barry lifts his flashlight as he grins. "You're under arrest."  
Caught you.

 

The Wisp goes down easily. Far too easily for a master criminal who had managed to steal several priceless items without leaving a trace.  
"I did it," is all the Wisp says in a quiet voice almost devoid of emotion.

As everyone in the CCPD congratulates Barry for 'breaking his first big case', he can't help but feel like something is wrong for some reason...

\---

Len smirks at the front page news in the paper stands as he walks with his sister to the coffee shop.  
"I can't believe you ran out of coffee, Lenny," Lisa scolds, hugging him a little tighter as a cold wind whips passed them. "And I can't believe the cold doesn't bother you."  
"You just have low tolerance, princess," he grins, opening the door for her. "Besides, we can get breakfast biscotti here too."  
"Oh," his sister wiggles her eyebrows playfully as she walks through the door.

Len makes the order and brings it to his sister who procured them a table.

"So," Lisa begins to draw the word out, but Len beats her to the question.  
"When do I get to meet your boyfriend?" he smirks at her. 'Not interested in 2, 458.'  
"He's not my boyfriend," his sister's eyes latch onto someone in the corner. "Yet."  
"You see him-" Lisa has already run off but Len finishes anyway. "Don't you?"  
"Len?"  
He turns and is surprised to see Barry smiling at him.  
"Barry," he gives him a lazy wave. "Congrats on your case."  
"Oh, that, well," Barry moves to take Lisa's abandoned spot. "It was nothing."  
"In that case, I take it back," Len shrugs, indifferently. "What has you running in for a caffeine break? I'd think the high-ups would give you a promotion or vacation for cracking such a big case."  
"Just walking around," Barry shrugs back. "clearing my head I guess. You?"  
"Sister," Len points to Lisa who is in the tour guide's lap. "I need all the caffeine I can get."  
The red-winged Wisp laughs, "She's really pretty."  
"If you want to date her," Len warns him, protective instincts flaring automatically. "You'll have competition."  
"Nah, no, not that she wouldn't be worth it, but," Barry shakes his head. "Not really interesting in dating anyone quite yet."  
"Still living with the parents?" he guesses, getting an answer before the other Wisp nods sheepishly. "You know you can go out to other places to date?"  
"Yes, I know that," Barry rolls his eyes. "It's just-Something my dad said, is all. Don't worry about it."  
"I'm not," Len grins into his coffee cup. The brew was very good.  
"Oh! While I have you here," Barry reaches into his pockets before he pulls out a wrinkled piece of paper. "I saw this advertisement while I was reading the article they posted on the case online and thought you might want to check it out?"  
Len takes the crumpled paper and blinks at the words on it:  
"Open job interviews for Autten's Trading Corp. any time this week!"  
He looks up at the suddenly nervous CSI.  
"You want me to get a job here?" Len waves the paper slightly. "Working for some big time trading place as a cubicle shmuck?"  
Barry shrugs, "It's better than no job at all?"  
"Not so sure about that," he offers the paper back. "But thanks all the same."  
"But what about Lisa?" the other Wisp frowns, glancing over to the green-winged Wisp who was whispering something into another Wisp's ear. "I thought you didn't want her to worry."  
"I don't."  
"Then why not at least try it?" Barry smiles. "You might learn to like it."  
'I highly doubt that but,' Len sighs. "Okay."  
"Good! I can give you dir-"  
"But you're coming too."  
"ections-what?"  
"You heard me," Len pushes the paper back over to the other Wisp as he leans back to cross his arms over his chest. "I'm not going there without you."  
"But," Barry frowns. "Won't that hinder your chances of getting a position there?"  
"Are you trying to work for them?"  
"No, but-"  
"Then I don't see how you being there can be anything other than helpful," Len shrugs. "I won't go if you don't go too."  
"But what about Lisa?" Barry tries again, voice slightly strained. "You can't just abandon her."  
"Look back to the table she was at, Barry."  
The Wisp does, then groans in defeat.   
The table is empty.  
"I'm the one who's been abandoned," Len remarks with a smirk. "But, look on the bright side," he points to the plate in front of Barry, "You get the rest of her biscotti."

 

At the interview Len isn't impressed with his prospective 'Boss'.   
"Says here that you dropped out of High School," the snooty Wisp turns his pointed nose up at Len, "Any reason for that?"  
"I didn't need the education any more," Len comments dryly. "I know all I need to, especially about people."  
"What do you know about people?" the snot huffs, haughtily.  
Len takes a breath. This is going to take some talking.  
"I know that you must've either cheated in school or have some sort of foresight because you don't have any sort of degree on your wall, which means there was no desire to pursue any scholarly things in College. No one proudly hangs up their high school diploma unless it has all those shiny stickers about being an honor student, which you clearly weren't. This is your dad's place of business, easy enough to tell, there's a family portrait in the main lobby. He must've known or just thought you a dunce or slacker, but felt fatherly compelled to give you some sort of position. He gave you your own office, if you can call it that, but it's in the backmost corner of the building with only one window for light that you've foolishly deigned as the place to put your dying fern. He still wanted to empower you, though, last ditch effort to get you to pull your act together perhaps?, by giving you the important job or hiring's and firings. Thought I DOUBT your word is law around here. Lastly, if you're going to put in a large mirror to make your glorified cubicle look bigger, you shouldn't put it directly behind yourself, especially if you're going to slouch like a toddler. You want us to think that you've been taking meaningful notes, but you've only been writing out what you want for lunch."  
Len smirks at the man's red, gaping face. He turns to a less red, but equally shocked Barry, "Sorry, Barry, I don't think this place and I will make a good fit."  
He walks out of the room confidently, knowing the CSI will follow. Eventually.

 

"How did you do that?" Barry shout-asks him once they're far enough away from the building. "You broke his life apart in moments as if you read it off his face or cue cards off the walls. What sort of Gift is that?"  
"Deductions or a people reader?" Len likes the wide-eyed childlike behavior he's getting from Barry. It's refreshing. "I've been around, seen people, learned to watch them and the rest just came to me."  
"You're amazing," Barry laughs. "I'm a CSI and the only thing I noticed was the painting bit. I wasn't even paying attention to the mirror!"  
"Because you're not vain, Barry," Len smiles at the other's meaningful look. "You don't like staring at yourself in the mirror so you avoided the one in the office."  
"Like I said," Barry laughs again. "Amazing."

-


	9. Chapter 9

The next couple of days, Barry 'runs into' Len and spends more and more time with him. Lisa is always off doing her own thing.  
Barry doesn't know what it is, but something is pulling him towards Len at every turn. The Wisp amazed him all the time and he felt relaxed around him.  
But something was tugging in the back of Barry's mind and no matter how hard he shook his head or tried to think it through, he couldn't get it to stop.

"We still need to get you a job," Barry frowns, looking over the job offers in a newspaper he has covering the table they were sitting at in the park. "Is there anything you'd like to do?"  
"Sit back and collect money," Len smirks. "Be with me sister. Talk to you."  
Barry's ears burn a little as he re-reads the ad about a dog walker, "What about going back to school and getting-"  
"No thanks."  
He sighs. Len interrupting him was the only thing he didn't like about the other Wisp.  
"You didn't let me finish," he looks away from the paper to look at Len.   
"You want me to get some degree or special education for a job that I'll end up hating and leaving the next day," Len shrugs. "Waste of money and time to go."  
"And when you're thrown to the streets?" Barry demands to know. "Or starve because you can't even afford to bread and milk?"  
"Lactose intolerant," Len shrugs again, he's not paying much attention to him. Barry follows his line of sight to an elderly woman slowly pushing her cart through the park's pathway.   
A young couple passes her by and knocks into her. They make a few items fall out of her cart and help put them back in before waving politely and walking away.  
Barry wonders why Len is chuckling.  
"That was nice of them to stop to help," he remarks, still confused as the other Wisp's chuckling gets a little louder. "What's so funny?"  
"That lovely young couple?" Len turns his cool blue eyes to Barry. "The ones that helped out that poor old woman?"  
"Yeah," Barry is getting more and more confused. "What about them?"  
"They were just robbed," Len deadpans seriously. "The old woman stole the boy's wallet and the girl's bracelet."  
"What?" he jumps out of his seat to find the old woman, but she's long gone. 'She moves fast for someone who was walking so slowly a minute ago.'   
"How did you?" Barry turns his focus back to Len. "How did you see all that?"  
"I was looking for it," the other Wisp smirks. "I have a pessimistic look on the world, Barry. I'm always trying to find the darkness that lurks under every rainbow."  
"Shouldn't we do something?" he asks, looking around in case there was an officer walking nearby. "Inform the police or something?"  
"Why?"  
Barry blinks down at his friend, "What do you mean why?"  
"Why should we do anything?" Len's tone is serious, face devoid of emotion. "They're the ones who let themselves get robbed. Let them handle it."  
"Just because the woman got away with it doesn't make it okay, Len," anger bubbles a little under his skin and his wings flutter with the energy. "Robbing people is wrong."  
"What if she's got three starving grandbabies at home?" Len asks again, tone and face the same as before. "Or just one old husband bound to his bed?"  
"Well," Barry swallows the small lump the mental image provided. He sighs, "As sad as that is, it's still wrong. She can give the things back and apologize, but she can't go around taking things."  
"Ever the instrument of justice, Barry," Len smirks, face and voice breaking away from it's stony past. "You're sense of right and wrong is as blinding as your wings."  
"Thanks?" Barry doesn't know how to take that.  
Len looks to his watch and frowns, "I gotta go."  
His Wisp friend gets to his feet and offers Barry his hand. Barry shakes it.  
"Until next time then?" Len asks.  
"Can't wait," he smiles at him.  
Len starts to walk away, then stops, turns back to Barry with a serious expression.  
"One day," the Wisp says quietly. "You might find yourself having to make a decision: Are you willing to break the rules to help someone you know?"  
'Where is all this coming from?' Barry thinks as he stares at the other Wisp's sad frown.  
"I just hope," Len continues. "that when that happens? You won't regret it."  
Then the Wisp walks away, hands deep in his pockets and head slightly bowed.

Barry gets a sinking feeling as the tugging rears its head stronger than before.

-


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What a nice, even number for the ending!  
> Try not to be too disappointed... =/

Barry goes to work early to finish his case load.  
With his responsibilities take care of, he uses the CCPD's database to run Len's life. He doesn't find anything criminal, which is a relief. But then he finds what he was worried he would find and his heart feels heavy.  
Len is off the map after high school. No work references. Nothing traceable to him at all. As if he didn't exist.  
Which is the perfect cover for a thief who leaves no trace of himself in his crimes.  
It's all circumstantial...but...Len was there. In the museum. He has great insight, Barry had seen it for himself. The perfect candidate, with equipment and confession, was waiting for Barry to arrest him right after they met. Tying up the case in a neat bow.

Barry doesn't want to but he has to find Len and talk about it. See if he can decipher for himself if he was capable of doing something like that.  
Some part of Barry thinks that he could.

 

He starts at the coffee shop and walks the streets of the apartment buildings that were within walking distance. He doesn't know what he's looking for, exactly. He's actually hoping to just see Len, or even Lisa, leaving one of the buildings as he walks up and down the street. Barry keeps glancing up whenever he sees the shadow of someone flying overhead. He knows Len can't fly but his sister can and she could be leaving that way.  
It's during one of his upward glances that Barry accidentally runs into someone.  
"Oh, sorry," he immediately apologizes, taking a step back. The other Wisp is HUGE. His singed-tipped wings look as muscular as his body. "I'm sorry."  
"You lost, red?" the muscular Wisp asks with a low, grumbly voice.  
"Red? Oh, my wings," Barry smiles pleasantly at the man. "Actually, I was trying to find a friend of mine. His name's Len. Do you happen to know where he lives?"  
"Len?" the other Wisp narrows his eyes at Barry. "Pretty hard to find someone with only a first name, isn't it?"  
"Well, I," Barry frowns, realizing the truth in the other Wisp's words. "Yes, I suppose. I take it you don't know him then?"  
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," the Wisp crosses his arms. "Why should I tell you?"  
"Because it's important for me to talk to him," he looks the man over, takes in his plain dark clothes and tries to see what Len saw in people. He notices the protective stance in his feet. "Like I said, he's my friend. I need to talk to him. You a friend of Len's too?"  
"I don't believe in labels," the Wisp growls a little deeper. "Why do you need to talk to him?"  
"Why are you stopping me from talking to him?" Barry counters. "Do you think me talking to Len will end the world or something?"  
"There are Gifts of persuasion," the other shrugs. "You gonna try to manipulate him into doing something for you?"  
"No!" Barry's frustration is turning into anger. "I just want to talk to him!"  
"And I want to know why."  
"Because we're friends."  
"That's not good enough."  
"Well, it's all I got. So it's going to have to be!"  
Barry blinks when he realizes that he's no longer looking UP at the singed-winged Wisp and is now looing DOWN on him. In his growing anger, he had started to fly upwards a little and he has to take a breath to return his feet to the ground.  
"You've got a lotta spunk, kid," the Wisp grins. "So I'll tell you where he is."  
"Thank you," Barry sighs, forgetting for a second why he wanted to talk to Len in the first place.  
"He's at the airport," the Wisp jerks his head up the street. "If you hurry, you might just catch him."  
"It's a good thing I'm fast then," Barry can't help but grin at the fact, feet lifting off the ground to get ready to head off in the right direction.  
"My names Mick, by the way," the singe-winged Wisp tells Barry, gaining his attention again before he takes off. When the speed Wisp looks down he's a little disturbed by the look the other is sending him.  
"Know this, Red," Mick's voice dips deep and threatening. "If you hurt Len. I'll break your wings off."  
Barry nods furiously, wings beating faster with an unconscious fear of the threat. Mick nods at him once, then begins whistling as he walks down the street.  
Barry flies for the airport.

\---

"I don't want to gooooo!" Lisa pouts in her brother's arms. "I wanna stay home and bake cookies with you!"  
"You want to keep flirting with that tour guide," Len chuckles, pulling his sister off himself like she was a clingy cat. "What was his name again? Fabio?"  
"Bond," his sister winks at him. "I know you know who he is. Just don't beat him senseless while I'm too far away to kiss his boo-boos better, okay?"  
"So," Len looks away as if thinking about it. "I can beat him to a pulp when you come back for Summer Break?"  
"Lenny!" Lisa smacks him gently as she giggles. "You're impossible."  
"Pain for pain," he shrugs, walking her to the gate entrance.  
As they both look at the security, the air around them sobers a little.  
"I'll miss you," Len tells her honestly. "Be safe for me."  
"You too, big bro," Lisa sighs. "I hate leaving you."  
"Just two more years, Lis," he pulls the suitcase handle up for her to take. "Then you can stay here as long as you want."  
Lisa kisses him on the cheek and he hugs her one more time before she walks over to the gate.

Len waves as his sister turns one more time towards him.  
Then she walks out of sight.

\- -

Barry flies straight to the airport at breakneck speeds. He pauses briefly to read out the departures, then follows the signs to where the planes are waiting to take off.  
He dead-stops right behind a glass wall as he watches the siblings hug.  
'One day, you might find yourself having to make a decision.' Len's voice rings in his head as the siblings pull away. 'Are you willing to break the rules to help someone you know?' Lisa walks towards the gate. 'I just hope, that when that happens?' Len waves to her when she turns back to him. 'You won't regret it.'

\---

Barry sits on the roof of the airport, watching the planes come and go.  
He mulls over his decision:  
The man who took the fall for Len must have had a reason.  
It's not a terribly long sentence.  
Everything I have is all guess work and circumstantial anyway.  
I might be wrong. I'm probably wrong.  
I'm wrong. That's all there is to it. 

Barry laughs at his own foolishness as he gets to his feet.  
Wrong or not, yes or no, he's going to push it out his mind and let it go.

\- - 

Len waits on a bench just outside of the airport.  
He saw Barry, assumes the young CSI was there for something other than seeing his sister off since he flew away almost as quickly as he had arrived.  
Something was bothering the red-winged Wisp and Len idly wonders if he'd reasoned who the real culprit for the thefts was.  
Not that there was any evidence to connect Len. Even though Barry might be thinking that, and was right, Len couldn't be thrown into jail just because some CSI knew the truth.  
He smiles as he watches familiar red rings fly away from the roof and back towards the city.  
"See you later, Barry."

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, the ending was sad and I didn't get around to everything I probably should have but I'm just gonna hafta leave it like it is or I'll only make it worse. (Trust me. There is worse.)  
> Wisp Name Note:  
> It doesn't matter what the word literally means. Or what the creature definition of the word is. In this Universe, they just liked the term so they stuck with it. ;-)
> 
> BTW: I don't own anything.


End file.
